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Richard Thaler highlights the ethical considerations of nudges, noting that while they can be used to help people make better decisions, they can also be exploited for profit, as seen in the design of casinos and online gambling platforms.
Richard Thaler explains the 'winner's curse' using a classroom auction of a jar of coins. The highest bidder often overpays, illustrating how competitive bidding can lead to irrational decisions. This concept was first identified by engineers at ARCO when bidding for oil leases.
Richard Thaler highlights the concept of 'mental accounting,' where people irrationally categorize money, affecting their financial decisions. This concept is widely applicable and often leads to irrational spending behaviors.
During the financial crisis, people irrationally upgraded to premium gasoline when prices fell, despite it being unnecessary for most cars. Richard Thaler uses this example to illustrate how mental accounting can lead to poor financial decisions.
Richard Thaler shares a story about how people are more likely to attend an event if they've paid for it, even if circumstances change. He notes that people will go to great lengths to honor a financial commitment, illustrating the power of sunk costs.
Richard Thaler and Danny Kahneman explored fairness in economics by asking if it's fair for a hardware store to raise snow shovel prices after a blizzard. Most people said no, except business school students, who believed it was justified based on microeconomic principles.